Album Details

• Artist: Gary Clark Jr.
• Album: Blak And Blu
• Label: Warner Bros
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: carlita on 2012-10-25

Media

Encountering Gary Clark Jr. at UCLA's Jazz Reggae Fest in May, his set lingered with me several days later. Unfortunately never getting a chance to see Jimi Hendrix perform live during my lifetime, Gary harkens back to this natural badass swagger of 70's blues rock , which style's re-emergence stood sorely missed on the mainstream pop scene for several years (since Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way"). Repping the Austin, Texas blues scene, there's a progressive vibe blending the smooth R&B of D'Angelo and John Legend ,the hip-hop singing flow of Drake with the blues guitar style influences of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton.

It's like putting a modern swirl on your parents' 45s and records you might have listened to, chilling on the weekends. Unconsciously soaking up the wisdom coming through the speakers, reintroducing this reinterpreted knowledge to another generation. Several emotions traveled through my headphones listening to Blak and Blu released on Warner Brothers this week- sorrow wishing his "train pulls in" and his baby would return on "Next Door Neighbor Blues", definitely not "numb" as "this woman" could feel several things, gratitude that "things are changin'" as he blurred the lines of genres so effortlessly and hope for the future (haven't been this excited in a while) as he confirms fresh artists still exist among pop drones filling the airwaves currently.

Even drifting into 60's doowop on "Please Come Home", one might get a picture of five men, decked out to the nines in shiny suits and shiny hair until you hear the guitar wail, snapping you back into reality.  Blak and Blu, reflects a bruised and battered dude in life and love, bearing his "soul", who "ain't messin around".

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